Golf at UKM 9th Oct 2003

Report by Bahar and Dzul Zain (With Pictures)

Aku on behalf of Dzul the main organiser and the rest of C66 members that played golf at your truly challenging Golf course wish to express our sincere thanks to you and your assistant for making the OIC66 golf event a very treasured and merable one. One, because even though you are a non golfer, you really make us most welcome in your smart attire, you are really a fantastic VC, in Hamzah words truly awesome.Secondly , you throw in the food as well ,starting with lunch and on completion of the game, a light High tea.

And at the cost of nothing that's very generous of you. Being from the same state (Kedah)with you I must record that I am very proud of you.Bukan macam Meel. dia koman (istilah negeri lain, tak guna), pasai gambaq seluloi ( istilah negeri lain - selalu)dia dok ambil, tapi satu pon belum keluaq lagi, aku tak tau sama ada dalam camera dia ada filem or not.

Anyway I must thank Dzul Zain for always being efficient in organising thing. Aku bawa a few pieces of paper for him to draw down the flights details. Dia cuma kata pada aku " Hang relax lah Bahar,everything is in hand." In this respect Dzul Zain is better than ASK alias AKS. Dzul produce the list in black and white detailing the flights order and the rules of the game, kalau ASK, 5 mins before T Off baru nak tau siap main dengan siapa. Aku tak tau bila dia dok prepare all these list sebab a few days earlier he was busy with the OIC meeting.

Of course I was really very fortunate to be in the same group with Hamid Nor ( Club Champion - Handicap 10, Razman Ariffin( My favourite headboy - handicap 18, ) and Saharudin Omar( not Shukri Omar's twin brother - handicap 18). The game went very well, and the weather was most favourable despite the usual weather forecast of hujan disana sini, earlier in the morning.

I stood by Hamid Nor to bet with my opponent. Before the turn we were 2 up with 2 fringes in hand. But after the turn everything turned bad for Hamid Nor , my partner. Razman Ariffin and Shaharudin Omar were in their elements to destroy Hamid ego. Whatever Hamid did which he reckoned was best, Razman and Shaharudin did better. And so it was the penultimate hole as the last hole fight. Shaharudin drive was a lot longer at least 50 yards further than Hamid Nor. And his second shot was regulation on, what can Hamid do except to claim that his sets that he used for the day was not his regular set, we gracefully succumb this hole and thereby lost the game. Anyway for me as a personnal achivement I did 3 pars for the 18 holes which is better since the the few last games that I played. It used to be double par on the par 5 holes.

I overheard from the other flights that Azman Musa again had shown his prowess in demonstrating what a fine golfer he is. Many of you may not believe me when I wrote about his game in Staffield Golf course. And for those who were in his flight would agree with me that the power of his shots must have come from that TONGGEK.

Anyway the game yesterday almost went awry when our beloved twin brother Salim was ketit by penyengat ( istilah Kedah Ketit for stung and not kelentit-which is something else, anak-anak aku kata aku mencarut bila aku cerita pasai kawan aku kena ketit penyengat). So Dato' MNor Embi please have somebody to remove the nest. And our sincere thanks should go to Dr Anis, Dzul Zain, Syed khalil, Nazri Teman, Yusuf Khalid and Azizul who abandoned their game and speedily and timely brought Salim to be given treatment.Salim, for the time being do have a good rest. Do practise your chipping and putting at home, we sure want to see you playing again on 25 October.

Subject: [mckk_c66] Golf at UKM 9.10.03 By Dzul Zain

Gentlemen,

This is going to be a long one! Be forewarned...

What an outing it turned out to be! There were all together 19 golfers (including one junior - Azizul Kallahan). Everybody was on time and we all had a hearty lunch, and after collecting the pool money and clarifying the rules of the 'competition' for the day - which was nett competition, A and B Medals and prizes for the best flight and the Par 3 champion, we set out on our respective buggies after having said our zohor prayers.

To underscore the significance of the 'event', at the lobby of the club, on the Events for the Day notice board was a declaration - Class of 66 MCKK Golf - ain't that something! Thanks MNoorE!

Dark clouds loom overhead but bright sunshine prevail amongst us - golfers, the ever-optimists! 3 flights started from the 1st hole and 2 from the 10th hole.

I can only relate things as they happen to my flight (SKhalil, SalimK, YusofK and me) and that of Hanis' (Hasran, Azizul and Hanis). The course, tough and rough, I did a nine on the first hole (par 4)!

At the second hole, SyedK's buggy (sharing with SalimK) refuse to move, so we phoned the club for a replacement. Ever had experience where you have to endure "Sila dail nombor extension yang andan mahu atau tekan 1 untuk... 5 untuk restoran, 6 untuk sukan atau 0 untuk operator"? So I pressed 6 and had to endure 4 excruciating minutes of the radio talk. Couldn't slam the phone (I'm using my new handphone), so redial again and again, finally got through. In about 3 minutes, a buggy came, but it was hijacked by Hanis because his buggy broke down too!. So got to wait another three minutes for a second buggy. So we took 40 minutes to play 2 holes!.

'Twas fairly uneventful (save for the search for balls under trees and the like) for a few holes until the par3 15th where 3 of us got pars (except for Salim who had a five). After that back to ball-hunting again. So we ended the first nine having used up all if not most of our strokes.

Hole 1 was again, 'normal' and that's it. It was history in the making and new boundaries of golf explored at the second hole, par4 index 1. One of us (no mention names here) hit 2 balls OB (out of bounds), sent the next one into a drain, the next two into the pond, scramble to put it on and two-putted for a 15! Fun, this game of golf is!

Then it's the par5, with a 150 metres carry over the lake, which is marked with yellow stakes, which means that you have to hit from the tee-box until you clear the pond. One of us (again, no names) put his first into the pond. The second was good, too good, and long, such that it flew to the fence for an OB. We 'allowed' him to take it from there, he hit the third ball OB again, about 150 metres down. Scrambled to put it on and two-putted for a 12! Hmmm.... what's next we were thinking...

The par 3 was uneventful, one par, two bogies and one double. Then SyedK's buggy refuse to budge, not again!. The gauge says the battery is full, but SyedK found out that when he switched it off, the gauge is still full! So, the second buggy has to push the other.

Hole 5, more drama. After hitting our drives, we bought some drinks and bananas, off we go with one buggy pushing the other and trying to call the club. You guessed it, same rigamarole, same story "Sila dail....." Sh_t!!*?! Got to our respective balls and begin to hit. Then SalimK start shouting "Oi! Ive been attacked!" and he fell to the ground - it was a swarm of tiny wasps or something like that.

YusofK went to assist and used his towel to ward off the tiny beasts from SalimK, he was in a shock and kept saying that it was quite painful. After a few minutes, he walked to hit his ball and played two more shots to get to the green, then he felt giddy and began to sit in the buggy with SyedK trying to comfort him. By that time the other buggy was already there. Salim lost consciousness for a while and we frantically called Hanis, who took one look and said "To the club we go!" Hanis drove the buggy while the club's assistant showed the nearest way there.

Both the flights abandoned their games and headed back to the clubhouse. Salim regained consciousness and we made plans to send him to the nearest clinic at Bandar Baru Bangi. Hanis wanted to come along but announced an emergency, "My stomach's churning, I need the loo!". After 3 minutes I called and he's still purging himself silly! Talk about side-plots,RTM directors can learn a thing or two here!

So got one of the staff to take his bike to lead us to the clinic, and I drove my car with SyedK accompanying Salim in the back seat. The clinic, it's not far, behind the Shell Station, but you got too drive thru the station, weave around tables and chairs and stalls and about 100 undergraduates before you can get to the clinic.

The relief, I can't describe. We went into the doctor's office, saw him giving Salim a jab of antihistamine (spelling?), but his BP was 90/60, and after finding out that he has hypertension, it became a concern. But his breathing is relaxed, thank God.

My next job is to get Hanis to the clinic - the Hanis who can lose his way even if he has a map and a radar in his brain! So I decided to walk to the station, wait for him so that I can help negotiate his way to the clinic.

Two doctors meet and a concensus was reached - admit to hospital for observation. "None worthy of any mention around here.." the docotor said, so Ampang Puteri it is. Back to the club to await Salim's driver who was shcoked to see his boss in that state, so I told him, just get him to Ampang Puteri and check him in.

The rest of us were not aware of the drama/s we went through, but most of them came back looking 'heavy' - must be the number of additional strokes they have to carry above their handicaps - except for Talib Fab... he was smiling as always. Why not? After 8 pars! Some of us got that many pars on 3 holes!

No results were announced, there was a couple of photographs taken and a formal speech of thanks was given in honour of our host and sponsor. Golf game results? No decision, 2 flights couldn't finish, I have to think about it. Maybe we'll 'combine it with the 25th event at KGSS (Khamis).

I immediately went to the hospital, but not after another sub-plot. I was frantically looking for Salim's golf bag, not knowing that Azizul has taken it home. I almost took another guy's bag. It was exactly the same as Salim's. I was rummaging through the bag to establish that it actually is his, when a guy came and said, "Can I help you?". I knew then that it was the wrong bag, looking sheepish, I explained the whole story. Luckily he remembered that I was the imam for the maghrib prayers and then helped try to locate Salim's club - by that time the whole club is aware of the 'stinging incident'.

MNoorE, sincere thanks for your generosity and hospitality, maybe this event can be quarterly!

I guess it's too long already, I'm sure BaharM will have some english pantuns to recite...

Salim is at Ampang Puteri room 521, for observation. SudinB was at the hosptial with me. Salim kirim salam and expressed his thanks. Salim, take it easy, and look after yourself - work on being less of a hyper, play more golf!

Alhamdulillah indeed! See you all and family Saturday nite. Tomorrow morning I'm attending a dialogue with Mahathir.